News

May 22, 2017

Startup aims to make 3D printers affordable for researchers @cellink3d

Erik Gatenholm and Hector Martinez are the Henry Fords of the 3-D biotech printer business. Until Ford came along with his Model T, automobiles were too sophisticated and too expensive for all but the elite.

The co-founders of Cellink saw the same thing happening with 3-D biotech printers. Few could afford high-precision printers with six-figure stickers. For many labs, the choice was between the Rolls-Royce of printers or the horse-and-buggy days of casting simple three-dimensional tissue samples with molds to conduct medical experiments.

Gatenholm and Martinez took a different approach. Just as Ford sought to build a car for everyman, the duo sought to build a bioprinter for every lab.